Lotus has revealed that Nicolas Prost, son of legendary four-time champion, Alain Prost, is to drive the E20 at the forthcoming Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi.

Having already fulfilled a range of duties behind the wheel as the team's reserve driver this season, Prost will now have the opportunity to hit the track at full speed during next month's test. With demonstration runs at the Goodwood Festival of Speed amongst a list of events attended thus far, Prost will be making his first competitive appearance with the team as part of the three day event at the Yas Marina Circuit.

In preparation for Abu Dhabi, Nicolas will be spending this coming Friday and Saturday at the wheel of the team's 2010 car - the R30 - during private running at the Circuito de Navarra in Spain.

"This is a fantastic chance for me to gain experience at the highest level of motorsport, and I'm extremely grateful to the team for handing me this opportunity," said Prost. "I've now taken the Euroseries Championship in 2008, finished as the leading petrol car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice and am currently 4th in the World Endurance Championship - 1st of petrol car drivers - so this is an exciting next step in my career. I've been working with the team for a number of months already but this will be my first time driving the R30 in a competitive environment, so I'm aiming to make the most of my time on track while hopefully also providing the team with some useful feedback for the future."

"Nicolas has done a good job as our reserve driver this season," added Eric Boullier, "and we're delighted to offer him a place with the team at the young driver test next month. This is a great opportunity for up and coming drivers to gain hands-on experience in the category they will all be aiming for, and with the skills Nicolas has gathered across a variety of motorsport disciplines throughout his career so far we're confident that this will prove a useful exercise for both team and driver alike."

Lotus will be announcing the remainder of its driver line-up for the test in the coming weeks.